


Fire in the Hole

by seraphina_snape



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Leverage
Genre: (sort of), Crossover, Explosions, First Meetings, Gen, POV Outsider, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-06-08 20:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6872350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphina_snape/pseuds/seraphina_snape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Eliot had been in a lot of prisons in his lifetime, but this one beat them all. It wasn’t even really a prison, just a fenced-in part of the compound, with his cell being a deep hole in the ground. His captors had unceremoniously dumped him here after they’d caught him inside the main house of the compound. </i><br/><br/>[Xander Harris and Eliot Spencer meet under less than ideal circumstances.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire in the Hole

**Author's Note:**

> Written years ago but never really posted anywhere; set pre-canon for Leverage, post-s7 for BtVS. As long as you know what each fandom is about, you can read this without problems.

Eliot had been in a lot of prisons in his lifetime, but this one beat them all. It wasn’t even really a prison, just a fenced-in part of the compound, with his cell being a deep hole in the ground. His captors had unceremoniously dumped him here after they’d caught him inside the main house of the compound. 

His head ached, his legs ached, his hands ached, his shoulders ached. Hell, his fucking _teeth_ ached.

“Man, sit down. You’re making me dizzy.”

Eliot glanced at his cellmate. He was a little younger than himself, with short dark hair and an eye patch over one eye. The guy wasn’t only half-blind, Eliot decided, he was color-blind as well. He had to be, judging by the awful orange-and-blue Hawaiian flower print shirt. He was also way too laid back for anyone who was sitting on the bottom of a twenty feet hole in the ground inside a fortified compound patrolled by guards in full-body armor. 

“You’re the silent type, huh?” the guy said when Eliot didn’t respond. “Well, it’s still better than being stuck down here alone. Last time it took the guys nearly three days to locate me and I nearly died of boredom. Well, that and also dehydration.” The guy frowned. “The blood loss didn’t really help either, but--”

“You mean there’s someone looking for you?” Eliot interrupted.

The guy gave him an ‘are-you-for-real?’ look. “Well, _duh_. What, you thought I was just going to sit here and quietly die of starvation while those suckers up there killed off their last batch of victims?” 

Eliot shrugged. What did he know? People reacted to stress in different ways. Some just curled up in a corner and waited for death. He’d seen it happen often enough.

“Name’s Xander, by the way. And I’m estimating a rescue in two – no! – one hour and thirty-eight minutes.” He grinned and held out his hand. 

Eliot glanced at the outstretched hand and turned back to the wall. There had to be some way to get out.

“Forget it, man. There’s no way to climb out here. Unless you’re secretly Spiderman.” Xander sighed. “Seriously, man, sit down.” 

Eliot ran his hand over the completely smooth stone surface of the walls again. No way out. He sat down across from Xander. Their cell was large enough in diameter that they weren’t touching even with their legs stretched out towards each other. 

“You got a name?” 

“Eliot.”

“So, Eliot, what brings you to this fine place of demon worship and slaughter?”

“I had car trouble down the road. I was gonna ask to use the phone when those guys in the red robes caught me and threw me in here.” 

“Right,” Xander said. His tone clearly indicated that he didn’t believe it for a second.

“And yourself?”

“Oh,” Xander said vaguely. “Walking my dog, and _wham!_ I get jumped just outside of the woods behind the compound.” 

Eliot nodded. Xander’s story was about as true as his own. 

“Great. Glad we’ve cleared that up.” 

They sat in silence for the next few minutes. Then the sound of faint shouting reached Eliot’s ears. It came progressively closer until he could hear the sounds of a fight pretty much right on top of him. 

“Yep, that’d be the cavalry. Prepare to be rescued, buddy.” 

Eliot didn’t believe it for a second – that is, until a dark-haired woman appeared at the edge of their hole in the ground, the end of a rope dangling from her fingers. 

“Yo, Boytoy, enjoying your stay at Chez Creep?” She yelled down, laughing.

“Don’t I always?” Xander yelled back. “Although I gotta say, as far as cells go, this one’s actually been pretty nice.”

The woman laughed again and finally threw the end of the rope down to them. 

Eliot didn’t like waiting for Xander to climb up first. Who was to say they wouldn’t cut the rope before he was out of the hole? But he didn’t have much choice. 

Eliot swung himself out of the hole and found Xander and the woman deep in conversation a few feet away. They both looked like they were completely immersed in their conversation, but Eliot wasn’t fooled. They were both watching him.

“So, Xan, who’s your friend?” the woman eventually asked. 

“Eliot,” Xander said. “He’s a bystander.”

“Does he know?” 

“Nope.”

“We gonna tell him?” 

“Nope. Need to know, Faith.” 

“I meant about the plan, pudding brain!” 

Xander made a face. “Oh. Right. You got the detonators?” He took what Faith handed over. “And you put the charges up the way I told you? Everything go okay.” 

Faith nodded. “Five by five.”

Eliot frowned. Detonators? Eliot didn’t really care who they were or what the plan was, but it obviously involved explosives. Time to cut his losses and leave this place far behind. He’d have to placate the client by offering him a free job, but rather that than being blown to bits in this place.

Eliot turned to leave.

“Yo, Pretty Hair! You’re not staying to watch the fireworks?” 

“Faith!” Xander gave him a slightly fake apologetic smile. “Right. You should probably go now. And don’t call the cops if you happen to hear an explosion or three once you’re a few blocks down the road. No cause for alarm, I promise.” 

“He’s not gonna call the cops, Xander,” Faith said. “Does he look like he’d call the cops?” 

“What’s that supposed to mean? A long-haired guy dressed in all black with a ski mask can’t be an upstanding citizen?”

“He was breaking into the place to steal something! You don’t call the cops if someone blows up the place you were going to burgle. Just saying. Besides, any one of the hundred people living on this street are going to call the cops once this thing blows!”

Eliot left the two to their bickering and headed back to where he’d parked the car. He was just turning into the road that would take him back towards the city when a loud explosion sounded from behind him. In the rearview mirror he could see orange flames lighting up the night sky. 

He couldn’t help but smile, just a little.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! *g*


End file.
